Last season, the Kansas basketball team was the oldest and most experienced in the nation. Five-year players Dejuan Harris and Hunter Dickinson, experienced seniors Zeke Mayo, KJ Adams, Davit Coit, and Shakeel Moore, as well as juniors AJ Storr and Rylan Griffen, played most of the minutes.
Only then-freshman Flory Bidunga saw significant minutes outside of those players. This season, things will swing the other way. Kansas should be one of the least experienced power conference rosters.
How does this Kansas basketball roster break down by class?
With no more players eligible for the extra COVID-19 season, the rule returns to the four-year eligibility standard that has been in place in college basketball. This roster will feature three seniors, one junior, three sophomores, and a whopping six freshmen.
The four seniors and juniors are all transfers. Only two of them have played in power conferences - Tre White and Noah Shelby. Melvin Council Jr. and Jayden Dawson played at mid-majors, but they have plenty of experience on the court.
Of the sophomores, Elmarko Jackson started 17 games as a freshman and averaged 18.6 minutes per game. He took a medical redshirt last year. Bidunga started six games during the 2024-25 season and averaged 16.3 minutes. The remaining sophomore, Jamari McDowell, played sparingly, only 7.2 minutes per game, two years ago, before redshirting last season.
That leaves the six freshmen. The recently added Paul Mbiya has some ProA Un21 experience in Europe, and Bryson Tiller joined Kansas before the spring semester but sat out due to an injury. While he’s still a freshman, he has plenty of exposure to Bill Self’s practices and system.
Samis Calderon, Darryn Peterson, Corbin Allen, and Kohl Rosario round out the talented and exciting freshman class.
It’s difficult at this point to predict playing time, outside of Peterson and Bidunga. The seniors will likely receive plenty of playing time, but Shelby is somewhat of an unknown quantity. Jackson will be in line for a significant role, too.
Mbiya should be a tremendous complement to Bidunga and seems a lock for double-digit minutes. It will be interesting to see how much playing time Shelby, McDowell, Rosario, Tiller, Calderon, and Allen earn throughout the season.
Self did a great job recruiting this year. In fact, his additions of Rosario and Mbiya this week added needed depth in a couple of areas.
The roster structure also suggests that Self may have undergone a mindset change regarding how to build a roster. This roster is designed to develop over several years, supplemented by a few complementary transfers. While it is almost certain that Peterson will move on to the NBA after one year, Bidunga may improve enough to make that jump as well.
In this day and age, attrition is likely among those at the bottom of the roster who may seek opportunities that offer a bigger role. This roster offers numerous opportunities for player development if coaches and players remain patient. It would be exciting to see the freshmen and sophomores who might not play much stay around and be essential contributors next season and beyond.